The New York Islanders clinch a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 4-1 win over Devils

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Islanders are back in the playoffs for the fifth time in six years because they responded to the midseason coaching change that saw Patrick Roy replace Lane Lambert.

Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist and the Islanders clinched one of the two remaining playoff berths in the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.

“We were unhappy with our spot and how we were performing to what we knew we were capable of," Nelson said of the change. “So whether it was Lane or Patty, I think group still believed in what we have and sometimes a change or different voice just gives it a different perspective and right now it feels like we’re on a little bit of a role.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle MacLean also scored as the Islanders secured third place in the Metropolitan Division. Semyon Varamov made 23 saves for his fifth straight win and helped New York extend its point streak to eight games (7-0-1).

“It wasn’t the prettiest of hockey games, we capitalized in our opportunities,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “But something like this happens; we put ourselves in the playoffs and it’s a culmination of 81 games of work and everything in between. So guys should be proud of it, we’ll enjoy it here for a little bit.”

The run also was evidence general manager Lou Lamoriello made the right move when he fired Lambert on Jan. 20 with New York's season slipping away after losing four straight and posting a 2-6-2 stretch during which they played poorly.

Roy came aboard and found ways to press the right buttons, leading the team to a 19-12-5 record, with their best hockey coming late with everything on the line. Lambert, who led the Islanders to the playoffs in his first season in 2022-23, was 19-15-11 when he was sacked.

“They played some very good hockey down the stretch and they were resilient,” Roy said. “They worked together. I think we learned how to win and what I love is again tonight it was a 2-1 score and I felt like we were calm and we didn’t change our game and that’s a really good sign.”

The win assured that the Islanders and they will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs.

Timo Meier scored for the Devils, who missed the playoffs a year after posting a franchise-record 112 points. Jake Allen had 14 saves in New Jersey's final game of the season.

“It’s definitely tough,” Meier said. “The year is done, you miss the playoffs, that’s not where we want to be. And now it’s time to take some time off. You know, everybody’s going to look in the mirror, evaluate their performance. We’re disappointed.”

New Jersey also fired its head coach this season, letting veteran Lindy Ruff (30-27-4) go on March after a 1-2 West Coast trip. Associate head coach Travis Green was named the interim coach but the team didn't respond and it went 8-12-1 the rest of the season.

Green said he will meet with general manager Tom Fitzgerald and they will discuss his future. At the least, he probably will get an interview if Fitzgerald conducts a coaching search.

The Islanders, who close the season Wednesday at home against the Penguins, never trailed as Pageau scored on a 2-on-1 with Pierre Engvall with 7:38 left in the first with their first shot of the game. Palmieri doubled the lead with 3:08 remaining with his 29th goal, a tip on a power play.

Meier cut the deficit to a goal early in the second period for his 29th. However, Nelson restored the two-goal lead with 8:12 remaining in the period with his 33rd and MacLean, put the game away, scoring in close in the third period.

With the Devils out of playoff contention heading into their final game, Islanders fans were able to scoop up tickets and they celebrated more as more as New York's lead increased.

UP NEXT:

Islanders: Host Penguins on Tuesday night in regular-season finale for both teams.

Devils: season over.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

New Jersey Devils' Nico Hischier, right, tries to make a shot on New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Islanders' Pierre Engvall, top right watches as teammate Jean-Gabriel Pageau (not shown) scores past New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen, left, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New Jersey Devils' Nico Hischier (13) moves the puck up the ice past New York Islanders' Ryan Pulock (6) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New Jersey Devils' Timo Meier, right, celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

CORRECTS NAME FROM ILYA SOROKIN TO SEMYON VARLAMOV - New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov makes a save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Islanders' Kyle Palmieri, center, and New Jersey Devils' Brendan Smith (2) react after Palmieri scored on Devils goaltender Jake Allen (34) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Islanders' Pierre Engvall reacts after assisting on a goal by Jean-Gabriel Pageau during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Islanders' Brock Nelson (29) celebrates with teammates, including Kyle Palmieri, second from right, after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The New York Islanders celebrate after an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Islanders' Sebastian Aho, left, Alexander Romanov, second from front left, and goaltender Semyon Varlamov, back left, celebrate after an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Islanders' Anders Lee, second from left, celebrates with teammates as they come off the ice after an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J., Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO countries haven’t delivered what they promised to Ukraine in time, the alliance’s chief said Monday, allowing Russia to press its advantage while Kyiv’s depleted forces wait for military supplies to arrive from the U.S. and Europe.

"Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Outgunned, Ukraine’s troops have struggled to fend off Russian advances on the battlefield. They were recently compelled to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the east, where the Kremlin's forces have been making incremental gains, Ukraine's army chief said Sunday. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Monday its forces had also taken the village of Semenivka.

“The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the front line. Lack of air defense has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces,” Stoltenberg said.

Kyiv’s Western partners have repeatedly vowed to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” But vital U.S. military help was held up for six months by political differences in Washington, and Europe’s military hardware production has not kept up with demand. Ukraine’s own manufacturing of heavy weapons is only now starting to gain traction.

Now, Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to deploy critical new military aid that can help check the slow and costly but steady Russian advance across eastern areas, as well as thwart drone and missile attacks.

Zelenskyy said new Western supplies have started arriving, but slowly. "This process must be speeded up,” he said at the news conference with Stoltenberg.

Though the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line has shifted little since early in the war, the Kremlin’s forces in recent weeks have edged forward, especially in the Donetsk region, with sheer numbers and massive firepower used to bludgeon defensive positions.

Russia also continues to launch missiles, drones and bombs at cities across Ukraine. At least four people were killed and 27 injured in a Russian missile strike on residential buildings and “civil infrastructure” in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Monday, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging site.

A turreted Gothic-style building known locally as the “Harry Potter Castle,” was seen in flames after the strike.

Russia is a far bigger country than Ukraine, with greater resources. It has also received weapons support from Iran and North Korea, the U.S. government says.

Drawn-out Ukrainian efforts to mobilize more troops, and the belated building of battlefield fortifications, are other factors undermining Ukraine’s war effort, military analysts say.

Nick Reynolds, a research fellow for land warfare at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said the war “is still largely an artillery duel.”

He said he did not expect to see major movement of the front lines in the near term, but that “the conditions are being set for which side has military advantage at the front line. The Russian military is in a better position at the moment.

“When we see one side or the other being in a position to move the front line, at some stage, maneuver will be restored to the battlefield. Not in the next few weeks, maybe not even in the next few months. But it will happen,” he told The Associated Press.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, at a briefing with reporters Monday, also acknowledged Russia’s recent battlefield gains, noting that a delay in congressional approval for additional spending “set the Ukrainians back.”

NATO chief Stoltenberg, however, said more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine are on the way, including Patriot missile systems to defend against heavy Russian barrages that smash into the power grid and urban areas.

Ukrainian officials say Russia is assembling forces for a major summer offensive, even if its troops are making only incremental gains at the moment.

“Russian forces remain unlikely to achieve a deeper operationally significant penetration in the area in the near term,” the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment Sunday.

Even so, the Kremlin’s forces are closing in on the strategically important hilltop town of Chasiv Yar, whose capture would be an important step forward into the Donetsk region.

Donetsk and Luhansk form much of the industrial Donbas region, which has been gripped by separatist fighting since 2014, and which Putin has set as a primary objective of the Russian invasion. Russia illegally annexed areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions in September 2022.

In other developments, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh made an unannounced visit to Ukraine – the first British royal to travel to the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Buckingham Palace said Monday that Sophie, wife of Prince Edward, met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska in Kyiv and delivered a message on behalf of King Charles III. It did not disclose the timing or details of the visit.

The palace said Sophie, 59, made the trip “to demonstrate solidarity with the women, men and children impacted by the war and in a continuation of her work to champion survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.”

Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed reporting.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, centre left, during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Two women walk along a street in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A woman sells toys in front of a building with windows protected by sandbags in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during his joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg walk before their press conference in Kyiv Ukraine, Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)